


Sugar and Spice

by FrauleinFangirl



Category: S.W.A.T. (2003)
Genre: F/M, Fall feels, Fall season, Romance, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:51:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4931215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrauleinFangirl/pseuds/FrauleinFangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penny is determined to make the start of fall Brian Gamble's best experience when she discovers he will be spending it alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sugar and Spice

This is where I met him. The perfect one. He’s romantic, witty, and the way people described him to me the very first time before I met him is definitely accurate. Nobody could have written about him any better than my favorite author.

If you’re thinking I’m describing a real man, you have surely misjudged the woman I am. Men are not like the fictional male characters in the romance books I’ve read. If you think they are similar, even just slightly… that’s funny. Don’t mind my inner laughter.

Seriously, though, men are like untamed animals. They’re wild, have no manners, and are dirty as hell. At least, that’s what I gathered the last time I dated a man. It wasn’t a very serious relationship, no matter how much I liked Bobby. Turns out I was the only one who really liked the significant other during the two weeks I went out with him. What sucked even more is that I didn’t even receive a two weeks from him. Up and out of the blue, he just blurted the truth. What a waste of time, right?

No matter, I’m not going to let that bother me today. Not when the newest novel by my favorite author just came out. So, it looks like I have a date with my favorite male character.

I stroll into the Barnes and Noble store, which is only ten minutes away from my apartment. The first floor is always busier than the second. But, that works quite well for me since my favorite author’s books are upstairs in the quieter, adult section. Although, I do like to come back downstairs and order hot chocolate, then go outside and enjoy the early chill of October while I sit and enjoy a good book.

I head up the escalator and walk to the usual section near the back where all my preferred romance novels are placed. I smile when I find that someone had taken the time to sort them in alphabetical order by title. This makes things much easier for me, especially when I find the newest sequel. The smile never abandons from my expression as I open it and begin briefly reading the first chapter, already finding my wish-to-be soul mate’s name on the first page. He’s already doing something romantic for the female character, and it makes my heart flutter. Nothing could stop me from enjoying a quiet hour of reading this lovely piece of work.

A loud shuffling of boots and a groan cause my eyes to snap away from the glorious words in the book and look up with slight reluctance. I am no longer alone in my own world, unfortunately. Somebody just invaded it and is now screwing up the story of Penny Garner’s euphoria.

A man, no older than 35 at the most, stands in the same aisle as me, his eyes scanning the backbone of each book as if he were a cop searching out a suspect. Just by the way he stands there I can tell he’s not a regular customer at all. Call me a book nerd, but it’s pretty darn conspicuous. Certainly not the male character I’ve been looking for.

I stay quiet and slowly start shifting away, eyeing the little seating area to my left. This man next to me looks like trouble, and I don’t want him spoiling my afternoon with his lousy pickup lines, if he so chose to bring them upon me anytime soon.

My foot connects with something hard on the ground and I cringe when I hear a small clutter. Oh damn, I’m busted now. Sorry, Todd Bryce, looks like I’m going to have to delay my time with you to deal with this complication.

The man immediately glances in my direction. I blush, so I look down at the floor to see what my foot bumped just seconds before. Well, crap, it was a book. My own kryptonite just ratted me out to this stranger. Traitor.

“Somebody forgot to put this one back.” I mutter, hopefully quiet enough for the guy not to hear. I continue to blush as I lean down and pick up the fallen book.

“Looks like their decorating skills aren’t spot-on.” Shit, the bastard heard me.

I pause in mid-action and hesitate. Finally, my mind registers what I’m doing, and I put the book back before clutching the one that got tucked under my arm. “You don’t look like a decorator much yourself.”

At first, I’m worried I just hurt this guy’s feelings because his face goes solid. Then, he busts out laughing, not caring how loud he is. I frown in response. He’s violating my favorite store in the world, let alone my personal space.

“You sold me out, sweetheart.”

I roll my eyes and turn away from him, trying to read the synopsis on the back of my book, even though I know exactly what it’s about. I refuse to meet the man’s eyes. When I feel like I’m not getting stared at anymore, I peek out of the corner of my eye and notice he’s gone back to studying the book spines.

I blink. Does he think I’m too good for him so he doesn’t know what else to say? Or maybe he thinks he’s too good for me? I convince myself that he’s too good for anyone, based on his attitude. Although, I have to admit he’s good looking, with his hair gelled flat across his head and his navy blue t-shirt and jeans hugging his muscular figure so nicely.

Stop, Penny! He’s not good enough for you. The only word that should be written on him is trouble, not danger: I’m on fire. Besides, Todd Bryce is much hotter than this guy, my brain hisses to me.

Or is this guy maybe slightly moving up my Hot Guys Radar, heading towards Todd Bryce at the top of the list?

Knock it off!

Yet, my mouth is rambling out a question before my brain can catch up.

“So, how come you’re in this section?” I ask quietly. “I thought most guys find romance books fake and ridiculous.”

The man shrugs with a sigh. “Well, my therapist says a way I could cope with my temperament is to read good books that have a warm feeling and meaning to them. But, I don’t think she’d be happy to find me here looking for exotic books just to laugh at how porny they are.”

Oh great, he’s got temperament issues, too. Lovely. I raise an eyebrow at him as he snickers, and then I frown. Well, this is starting to piss me off a little. He’s not even in the right section if he’s looking for porny books.

“Your porno books are the back,” I inform him in a dry tone, flipping through a couple pages of my own book. “This is the romance section.”

“Aren’t they nearly the same thing?” This time he looks at me with a crooked smile. I notice for the first time that his eyes are an impressive green color.

My face burns as my blood boils beneath my skin. Okay, now this guy is really pissing me off. I finally let go. “You’re an asshole.”

He laughs. “I get that a lot.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

He smirks again, no longer having his attention focused on the books. Instead, he looks at me with his piercing eyes, before they sink down and study the book I hold in my grasp. He raises an eyebrow. “And I don’t suppose that’s an exotic book from the back, is it?”

Oh, that did it. I scowl angrily and storm up to him, trying to look tough. I’m almost as tall as him, but not quite. He just stands there and towers over me like he’s used to getting stood up.

“No. This is Karen Gunther’s newest sequel to an extremely well-written romance series. Todd Bryce happens to be the main fictional male character, and he’s much more of a man than you’ll ever be. And I don’t give a shit if that sounds ridiculous to you or not. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going downstairs to pay for this perfection so you can find somebody else to flirt with.”

I push past him, making sure my book smacks his shoulder hard enough to make him realize my point was literal. I don’t even look back as I walk towards the escalator, when I hear the familiar boots again. This time, they are quicker and faster, no longer making the shuffling sound I heard earlier.

“Wait!” Oh my, God, does this guy even have a life?

I huff a sigh and reluctantly turn around. The man’s jogging up to me, and I can’t help but notice how delicate his movement is. I snap out of my daze and wait until he approaches me. I cross my arms across my chest and wait for something clever to come out of his mouth.

“Okay, I admit, that was a lousy thing for me to say. I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” At first, I’m not sure he’s being truthful, but when I look into his eyes I actually find some sincerity hidden in them.

“All I really wanted was to get your number and ask you if you wanted to get some coffee at the Starbucks downstairs.” He says that innocently, but the crooked smirk he provides doesn’t read innocent at all.

But, I give him into him, just like I give into Todd Bryce when he’s apologizing to Felicity after he’s been a jerk. “Thank you for the apology. But, the way you tried to get my number was really poor. You might have to work on that a bit.”

He chuckles. “You’re probably right.” He continues to smile as he holds out one of his large hands. “Brian Gamble.”

I glance between his eyes and his hand, only to find myself blushing again. Despite my sudden shyness, I take his hand and shake it. I also make a mental note of how warm his hand is. “Penny Garner.”

He releases me and gestures for the escalator. “You still up for coffee? I can buy you something as a way of apologizing some more.”

Damn him, why didn’t he just show this side of him when he first spoke to me? I smile timidly and tuck a strand of blond hair behind my ear, a nervous habit I’ve always possessed. “I don’t drink coffee, but hot chocolate sounds nice.”

Brian beams. “Fair enough.”

So, I end up going downstairs with him while he pays for his pumpkin spice latte and my hot chocolate. He also pays for my book, no matter how much I protest to pay for it myself. And as we sit outside on metal chairs under a faded umbrella, I start to hate myself for liking him. My brain is cursing at me for being a traitor since it had warned me. But, my heart began overpowering my previous feelings for Brian.

When dusk starts settling in, we both decide it’s time to leave. We toss our cups in the trash and head into the parking lot. We exchanged numbers just minutes before, and now we are parting ways. Even though it had been nearly two hours we spent together chatting, it felt like time passed by too quickly. I haven’t talked to a guy that interesting in a long time, and waiting for a call from him will be as painful as somebody pulling out my spine.

I go home to my apartment and try to read my book, feeling touched by Todd Bryce’s romantic gestures and behaviors towards Felicity in the story. But, it’s hard to stay focused, when all I can think about is Brian Gamble’s beautiful green eyes, his cocky smile, and his last statement before he went to his car:

“See you some evening, pumpkin spice.”


End file.
